Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ Acquires Shares of 103,121 NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI)

Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ purchased a new position in shares of NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 103,121 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $3,785,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of NI. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its holdings in NiSource by 153.2% during the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 871 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 527 shares during the period. Spire Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of NiSource in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of NiSource in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in NiSource during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $47,000. Finally, Eastern Bank lifted its holdings in NiSource by 1,242.2% during the 4th quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 2,161 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $79,000 after buying an additional 2,000 shares in the last quarter. 91.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

NiSource Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NI stock traded down $0.16 on Monday, reaching $39.32. 4,846,462 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,648,567. The company has a market capitalization of $18.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.27, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.50. The business's 50 day moving average price is $38.35 and its 200 day moving average price is $36.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. NiSource Inc. has a twelve month low of $26.26 and a twelve month high of $41.45.

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NiSource (NYSE:NI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The utilities provider reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.54 by ($0.05). NiSource had a net margin of 13.94% and a return on equity of 7.87%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.53 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that NiSource Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NiSource Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This is an increase from NiSource's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. NiSource's payout ratio is currently 69.14%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on NiSource from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $38.13.

Insider Activity at NiSource

In other NiSource news, CAO Gunnar Gode sold 5,500 shares of NiSource stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.92, for a total transaction of $219,560.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 24,758 shares of the company's stock, valued at $988,339.36. The trade was a 18.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

About NiSource

NiSource Inc, an energy holding company, operates as a regulated natural gas and electric utility company in the United States. It operates in two segments, Gas Distribution Operations and Electric Operations. The company distributes natural gas to approximately 3.3 million customers through approximately 55,000 miles of distribution main pipeline and the associated individual customer service lines; and 1,000 miles of transmission main pipeline in northern Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Kentucky, and Maryland.